Eugene (wrestling persona): One of the worst gimmicks of all time

I don't think you need to be too much of a social justice warrior to realize that it really isn't ok to make light of the mentally disabled. It is just incredible to me that this thing was ever greenlit by VInce McMahon on the rest of the administration at the WWE (it may have been called WWF at that point, i don't remember.)

There are a lot of wrestlers that are portrayed as being stupid, most of the time they are heels (bad guys) and this is a very common tactic. However, to display someone as being mentally retarded and paraded around as lovable because of this isn't just in bad taste, it is outright mean.

However, this persona was actually allowed to continue, nay, embraced for nearly 3 years. This seems completely absurd by today's standards but I want you to keep in mind that this didn't take place in the 1940's, this was started in 2004. The role of "Eugene" was played by Nicholas Dinsmore, who is actually an incredibly talented wrestler, both of the actual variety and the acting kind.

He was introduced as being the "special" nephew of Eric Bischoff and had learned all of his wrestling abilities from watching some of his favorites on television. He would commonly mimic his favorite wrestlers and this would have been fine and well if it weren't for the fact that it was also incredibly offensive to people who actually do suffer this affliction.

Look, i am no puritan. I am not one of those people that finds a method of being offended with everything that I see but I gotta draw the line at making fun of people that have crippling illnesses. Growing up we were friends with a family who had a son that was mentally handicapped, and honestly, this is a horrible thing that is incredibly problematic for the family. Imagine any other illness that afflicts many and the people involved didn't do anything to contract it... would it be ok to have say, a wrestler who had contracted HIV as a kid from a blood transfusion and cuts himself in the ring? People would be outraged, right?

I was one of the people that was really happy when the gimmick was retired in 2007 only to have it return two years later.

I think that WWE is incredibly entertaining and i have been a fan for pretty much my entire life. Some of the storylines that they come up with are a bit much and they get thrown out quite rapidly. This one, is not just dumb, but it is wildly insensitive and i find it incredible that it not only got approval from the top brass, but that it was allowed to continue for years. It must have made money. That's the only explanation that I can come up with.